”Just because you failed at something doesn’t give you the right o be tossing and making a mess. Ya hear?”

It seemed there was trouble in the barracks; the guard arrived at the cell of…whoever these prisoners were to find not only two of them about to fight, but the subhuman was trying to escape! At least the elf girl had the sense to sleep though. The man slammed open the door and kicked the goblin towards the nearest wall. "Hands in the air, now!" the District employee yelled at Erith, Kristo and Rizx. "I don't know what is happening here but you penitents need to learn how to behave!" With his sword, held in his right hand, pointed at each of the three in quick succession, his left hand was reaching for his belt where he had cuffs for situations like these. 

By the Divine Blood is this turning into a debacle, the guard thought. He slashed Erith's stomach for good measure in order to ensure nothing else would happen tonight. It wouldn't be more than a large cut, and certainly not fatal, but the Artificer would need to be bandaged. This night can be salvaged, yeah. I turn in these things for their crimes, then I get to party while someone else is stuck out here! Perfect.

Titus listened intently as Mort launched into her usual monologuing. It had become pretty clear that she liked the sound of her own voice, but then, so did Titus. The controversial nature of her sermon was not lost on The Snake. Of course, being a necromancer was probably a little more alarming to the general public than anything she had to say. It was intriguing though; the idea that divine morality didn't, at all, exist. Titus had always operated under the assumption that he only had one life and he would do with it what he needed to, and deal with the consequences of judgement when that day inevitably came. But what if God didn't actually malign certain kinds of criminals - those who stole from the rich, for example? What if there was indeed a multitude of moral codes that one might live by and still be considered 'good?'

It is an interesting prospect, at the very least.

When Mort braided her tide-water hair into a style more practical for the coming obstacle course, Titus gave her a nod. "Good idea."

Then the first stage of the plan began, although not how Titus had imagined it. The young man's eyes narrowed as he craned his neck to get an obscured sighting on the cell of his allies. Rizx had gone rogue already - not much of a problem seeing as a rogue was exactly what she was understood to be. It was only natural. Titus only watched intently to hope and pray that the activity was enough to get the job done. Mort threw in a few words to add confusion to the guard, who...

Went inside. Yessss.

Now it was up to the Mihn and Maxim.

The kick sent Rizx flying into the wall, knocking out all the air in her lungs as she collapsed bonelessly on the floor.

She laid there gasping for breath, lungs burning as she desperately struggled to draw air back in, ignoring everything going on around her as she rolled onto her back, arching it desperately, clawing at her own throat. Somehow a wisp of air made it in as spots appeared in her eyes, and it was enough to get her into a ragged coughing jag.

Rizx laid there, spent, hearing the guard yelling, feeling the ache in her side where he'd kicked her, the pain in her back and the slowly fading burn in her lungs still, then ran her tongue over her sharp, pointy teeth. No matter what, that guard was dying, tonight, with his throat in her mouth. She could already taste the iron in his blood...

---

So, things did go according to plan…almost. The kick to the young gobbling was expected, she had been taking too long and since the guards seemed to like the taste of power, it would be stupid to expect anything different, Mhin didn’t care much for that, she had endured worse over the years, a sadistic way of learning a lesson, sure, but it got the job done. However, the slashing was unnecessary and completely out of character, any guard knew this, none of them made such a move to stop two annoying slaves, which meant the bastard was indeed new and inexperienced…your mine.

Swiftly, she made her way behind the guard, her feet as quiet as a breeze -Why don’t you mess with someone your own size?- her voice low and cold, her eyes devoid of emotion, a mere whisper in the air, that was the only warning the guard had before feeling the strong grip of slender fingers on his chin and another one at his nape. In one swift motion the assassin finished the job, the body of the now diseased guard, slamming the floor after a distinctive clack was heard, his head now in an unnatural angle. Mhin looked at the corpse at her feet with annoyance —it had been too easy for her linking, before bending down and taking the heavy ring of keys in one hand.

Without a word she approaches the feyling, not even asking for permission before lifting the now stained rag that was his upper garments and taking a look at the damage made by the guard -C’mon…- she murmured in a hushed voice after making sure the blade didn’t really put his life in any danger; It’s not that she cared —at least not that she would admit it, but the feyling was…she wasn’t sure what he was, but she couldn’t just let him die “It would only drag us down if he died, that’s all” the elf thought to herself before taking a quick glance at the little goblin who one way or the other had actually played her part.

-You, carry this two…- her eyes traveled to the large man who had been seating still until now -and you, get them out – she nodded towards the other cell, throwing the keys to the brunet, before exiting the cell with a small nod to Titus, walking back from where the guard had come, keeping to the shadows as she made sure the building was stilled or if any other guard had heard their little charade. She had decided not to take the guard's sword, a simple and unnarmed prisoner was to be seeing as less of a real thread than an armed one… and the women didn’t really need any to begin with.

---

---

Everything happened so quickly, it was difficult for the poor simple giant man to process everything that had just happened in the span of a few minutes. He felt very sad when Mhin walked up to Kristo and ruined his craft, and was left confused as to why Erith suddenly lashed at his friend. He barely had enough time to realize this was all a setup before the guard entered and began brutalizing his friends. Maxim was just about to get up from his bed and take care of matters in his own hands before things got worse, but...

*CLACK*

The guard's head twisted unnaturally with the help of two hands. When the lifeless body hit the ground in a thud, the big man froze. Just like that, a life taken in matter of seconds, with no hesitation. Despite keeping to himself, Maxim had heard all sorts of rumors in this prison. There were all sorts of people in this prison, from all walks of life, innocent and bloodstained alike. He should have grown accustomed to the brutality of the guards, some prisoners were actually killed in the occasional scuffles. But he wasn't. Every time, he could feel nausea hitting him like a wagon.

"You, carry these two…"

The killer lady's voice snapped him back to reality. Right, he had to help his friends get out of here. He was supposed to be the muscle of the group. Now was a good moment to put his strength to use. The Bear got up from his bed and walked up to Erith, to examine the wound. Not a deep cut, for sure, but he'll need that patched. The big man ripped the last vestiges of his upper garment. It's not like it was much to begin with, the guards didn't bother finding him a good shirt, they had simply given him a blanket that he had to tear holes in. With the torn rags, Maxim gently wrapped it around Erith's waist, however securing the cloth tightly with two knots.

"You alright, friend? Here, let me get you out of here." Without even waiting for an answer, the giant of a man acted on Mhin's order and scooped up the blond feyling from the ground and held him with one arm against his chest. He then turned to the goblin girl stretched his free arm towards Rizx. Oh, he remembered last time his hand approached her. Could still feel the sting of her teeth. He paused, offering his open hand to her. "Can I?"

With a hiss of pain, Rizx took Maxim's offered hand and pulled herself upright, then turned to look sourly up at his distant face.

"Yes," she scowled, baring her teeth in pain as she climbed up into the palm of his hand. Her ribs weren't broken, as far as she could tell, but the muscle had been strained, possibly torn by the kick.

She scrambled up to the big man's shoulder, wrapping her good arm around his neck.

"Time we do not have," Rizx warned.

Titus returned Mihn's nod with one of his own, the slightest smile on his face as he noted with approval that things were well and truly in motion. His hand gently gripped the bars as he tried to discern what was going on in the cell, Mihn ghosting from view further down the path the gang would take. When he saw Kristo in the guards uniform, he turned his head to regard his cellmate over his shoulder.

"Shall we be off then?" he said light-heartedly to Mort. It wasn't really a question.

Their cell was opened and with everyone united, the gang quickly made their way out of the prisoner barracks. There was no time to see if Erith was okay. Everything happened so smoothly that other prisoners were only just starting to take notice.

"Hey?"

"What the fuck is going on?"

"Hey, look, there out."

Titus struck a spark with his flint to light the fuse of his explosive device. The poison in Nightshade Moss was actually a powerful anesthetic that stopped the brain and lungs working, causing death rather quickly to anyone who consumed too much. However, in the right dose, it would do nothing than put you to sleep for a long period of time. Titus had filled a canister with such an amount - with sugar to act as fuel to burn, and baking soda as an oxidiser to stop the reaction getting too hot - Voila! - the mixture would boil and force itself from the partially sealed canister in the form of condensed smoke.

A sleep bomb, so to speak.

Clink, clink, clink...

The canister rolled into the center of the barracks suddenly billowing clouds of smoke into the air, the colour purple as a result of the Nightshade poison. Last out of the room, Titus flashed a look of contempt at the protesting prisoners as he backed up. It would be the last time any of them ever saw him again. Then the barracks door shut.

Now for the next step.

"Now remember," Titus started to Kristo. "The guard I deal with; his name is Vito. That's who you are taking me to see." There was no doubt that Kristo was a man brimming with charisma, but his ability to tell a story came with a potential downside and that was; that the man was prone going on large tangeants. "Try to keep any conversation minimal."

Titus could only hope the last bit of advice would be taken. Either way, if anything went wrong, they had ample back-up. Maxim was creeping up at their rear (albeit carrying Erith,) and somewhere unseen was deadly Mihn. The others could also help, if worst came to worst and they were forced to overwhelm a foe with numbers. But that last resort was not ideal. They hadn't even been freed of the magic cuffs yet.

Anyway, time to see how good Kristo could act.

"Too much drunk," sighs Rizx softly, swaying on the big man's shoulder, "perhaps?"

The sleeper bomb was a surprise. Hopefully she'd get a chance to learn how it was made. There was still some chance this was a trap.

Already she could hear the guards, laughing and drinking, really enjoying it all.

"More sleep?" she asked.

Unable to do much else other than stand there and be silent like the prisoner he was, Titus listened to Kristo go back and forth with the other guard with apparent ease. The bard was an impressive actor, to say the least, playing the part to perfection and manipulating the other man rather effectively. Once the coast was clear, “Time to go in…,” Titus nodded to Kristo and prepared himself with a deep breath.

Hearing the faintest voice of Rizx in the shadows, Titus looked to where the voice came from and shook his head. Unfortunately he'd only had enough materials for one sleep bomb - one canister was all he could procure. Perhaps it would've been more prudent to save the sleep bomb for the guards, but Titus had gambled on throwing it in the prisoner barracks. For one thing, rioting prisoners would've complicated matters, possibly even creating more obstacles. Plus how to guarantee hitting all the guards with the sleep bomb without half of them escaping the smoke? One of their gang might even have been caught in the blast, there were so many variables. Better to rely on stealth and the talents of his accomplices. At least, that was his conclusion.

Titus and Kristo went inside and skirted around the edges of the party until Titus saw the stairs leading to the second floor and and forcibly changed the pair's course leftward towards them. There would be no seeing Vito.

Once upstairs and alone, Titus looked around and sighted the desks at the head of the room. "Alright, unlock my cuffs." Then he went over to them and started checking the drawers, glad to find each drawer already unlocked. One drawer. Two drawers. Nothing. Titus' face hardened as he grew with frustration. But then upon opening a fourth drawer, he saw what he was looking for. "The master map," he pulled it out and showed Kristo, his eyes alight with delight.

If there were no other complications, Titus and Kristo were downstairs and back outside, going to hide in the shadows with the gang. Titus got the map out once more and they all peered at it, hoping to find the location of the key that they needed...

Everyone was able to successfully leave the barracks; everyone minus one, that is. At some point after their exit, Maxim noticed the wound Erith got was deeper than anyone had initially realized. Despite the best efforts that anyone had or would make, he was now dead. With the recent death hanging over their heads, the team waited for what felt like forever for Titus and Kristo to return. In reality, it was maybe five minutes at the most. With map in hand, the duo met with the rest of the group in a place away from prying eyes. None of the guards had suspected a thing.

Titus unfurled the map once he knew everyone was safe; it was the moment they had all been waiting for. Unfortunately, the path to freedom would get tougher before it got easier. The key was located on the fifth floor of the Warden's headquarters, in the same room as the big boss' office and living space. Beyond that intimidating information, the team would have to search for it on their own, since the precise spot it was in was not listed. The one silver lining here was that the building was the closest one to the entrance, so it would be a quicker route to the exit than anticipated once everyone was uncuffed.

The first three floors were described as well. The first was a reception area. The second was for lower-ranked clerical workers; the kind one would find in an office, not a church. The third was filled with offices for the management of the District. Meanwhile, the fourth floor was surprisingly undescribed. The map only said "fourth and fifth floors forbidden to all personnel." They may have been forbidden, but it wasn't like the group would be free by playing by the Warden's rules.

Rizx frowned, touching the paper, studying the layout.

"There was a very fancy house," the goblin theif whispered, "It had a special floor with a bird's name. When you stepped onto the floorboards, they made sounds. I did not enjoy how they 'sang'. We should expect traps like this."

"Are any of you good at climbing?"